Alabama Football: Nick Saban numbers are mind blowing

Any day is a good day to celebrate the achievements of Alabama Football. The offseason is the most opportune time, with little attention drawn by a future game and a need to fill the long interval with Crimson Tide wonderings.

Alabama football fans frequently speculate on Nick Saban’s eventual successor. As in not a replacement because no coach can ever replace Nick Saban. Tide fans discuss who might be worthy of following Saban and how far the Crimson Tide might fall when it happens.

Instead of those conjectures, this post is about what Nick Saban has already done. Both in his entire head coaching career and what he has accomplished with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Alabama Football Nick Saban Numbers are Astounding

In the post title, mind blowing was chosen as a term beyond astounding. While a mind is never literally blown, what Nick Saban has done, and is expected to keep doing, is astounding – and more.

In recent posts, we discussed numbers in Saban’s NFL Draft success. In another post, we considered the impact Nick has had on other coaches.

We and most everyone else in college football acknowledge Saban as the GOAT. We often forget what Saban has achieved has occurred during the most competitive college football era ever. Before the 85-player limit on scholarships, top programs, including Alabama Football stockpiled players. In the 1960s some teams had rosters of 150 players. A limit of 105 scholarships was imposed in 1973. The 85-player limit was not imposed until 1992.

Even after the1973 reduction to 105 scholarships, teams still filled rosters to keep players from going to rival schools. Former Oklahoma Head Coach, Barry Switzer was once asked why he needed 12 quarterbacks on his roster. Switzer admitted he didn’t but added it assured none of them would ever play for Texas.

Nick Saban has never had such an advantage over a rival.

Saban’s Numbers

• Saban and Alabama Football have won 105 straight games over unranked teams. The next-longest streaks of 72 such wins were set by Miami and Florida and are not current. The last time the Alabama Crimson Tide lost to an unranked team was Nov. 7, 2007, and the winner was Louisiana-Monroe.
•  If the Crimson Tide opens the 2021 season with a win over Miami, Nick Saban will hold the top career winning percentage for a college coach at a single program (minimum ten seasons). Currently, Saban is at 88.08 percent at Alabama and Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne leads at 88.11 percent. A Tide win over the Canes would take Saban to 88.4 percent.
• In Saban’s college head coaching career, he has 90 wins over Top 25 teams.  No. 2 is Joe Paterno with 86; followed by Bobby Bowden with 82 and Bear Bryant with 66.
• Nick Saban at Alabama (going back to 2007) is 33-12 against Top 10 teams (73.3 percent) and 18-5 (78.2 percent since the start of the College Football Playoff.
• Against Top 5 teams, Saban is No. 1 in wins with 27 and No. 1 in winning percentage at 64.2 percent.
• In career games against No. 1 teams, Saban is 7-3. The next four coaches for career wins against a No.1 have four wins each. They are either retired or no longer living.
• No list would be complete without including Nick Saban’s resume of seven National Championships.

Data sources used are rolltide.com and sports-reference.com.

Given the numbers, the facts resemble fantasy. But they are real and that is truly mind blowing.